Ethics Panel Investigating Mccarty

March 28, 1991|By ERIC CONRAD, Staff Writer

Palm Beach County Commissioner Mary McCarty is being investigated by the state Commission on Ethics for allegedly hiring a consulting firm under contract with Delray Beach to work on her County Commission campaign.

The Ethics Commission last month told McCarty it will launch a ``preliminary investigation`` into charges she knew that the consulting firm McCartney, Plante, Daley held a city contract, voted for the contract as a Delray Beach commissioner and hired the firm to work on her county campaign.

McCarty says she broke no law. In a past ruling, the Ethics Commission found a city commissioner can hire the city attorney to be his or her private lawyer as well. McCarty argued the same logic applies to hiring campaign consultants.

``I`m not really worried about it,`` said McCarty, a Republican who today is in Washington, D.C., to see former Florida Gov. Bob Martinez sworn in as the nation`s drug czar. ``There is case law that if you don`t benefit from something like this, there is no conflict.``

Even McCarty`s Delray Beach critics do not allege the county commissioner benefited personally from hiring the city consulting firm to work on her campaign.

But they say McCarty has been quick to leap on others in precarious ethical positions, most recently former County Engineer Herb Kahlert.

McCarty says parts of the ethics complaint against her is incorrect.

The complaint says Kathy Daley, a principal in the consulting firm, supported McCarty at County Commission campaign events. Daley appeared at one event -- a public debate -- and was there on no one`s behalf, McCarty said.

When she voted for the Delray Beach consulting contract, the firm of McCartney, Plante, Daley had split, McCarty said. Tom Plante, her actual campaign consultant, no longer worked with Kathy Daley, McCarty said. It was Daley who retained the contract with Delray Beach.